On the evening of Thursday, July 29, 1971, John Cage visited KPFA to talk about his current activities and interests and also to read the first and fifth sections from his Diary: How to improve the world (you will only make matters worse). He also reads a high school oratory which garnered a permanent trophy for Los Angeles High School where he was valedictorian of the class of 1928. Present in the room during the discussion are also Charles Amirkhanian, Richard Friedman, Charles Shere and Gerard Van der Leun. Gordon Mumma joins the discussion to talk about the latest activities of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company with which he and Cage are associated.
Notes
All Other Minds programs available, with additional print and photo materials, at http://www.radiOM.org.
Reviewer:rolligan
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November 17, 2004 Subject:
This is good radio
I've been interested in John Cage ever since I saw "What is Sound?" on a video cassette a decade ago. Anybody who can hang with Roland Kirk is alright by me. Years later I was exposed to his diary recordings via 89.9 WKCR during an extensive birthday broadcast and I was blown away. I tend to share Cage's view that the recordings of his works are never going to be able to compare with actually experiencing them the exception being his spoken word stuff. He had such a fantastic oratory style that he can set your mind in motion by talking about simple things. It's also great to hear somebody talking about Fuller, creative problem solving, and other unpopular ideas. The radio interview itself is fantastic because it's so cool and free. This is an important recording and highlights just how improtant KPFA and other Pacifica station archives are.